Manchester United 1 Arsenal 0: The kids go out

Robin Van Persie and Liam Miller

United’s main strength was in an experienced defence but this was a million miles away from being their first eleven. A large and rather quiet crowd at Old Trafford, no change there then, saw a quite staggering start as United kicked off. Within twenty seconds they had the lead. A slip by Hoyte, a slip by Senderos and some Weetabix goalkeeping of the lowest order let Bellion in to make it 1-0 with a real sucker goal. Maybe it was a bit frosty, maybe they had the wrong studs, either way quite a few of the boys had trouble standing up in the early phase of the game.

It was about ten minutes before Arsenal got into the match but the youngsters never really got into total control as they had done in their previous League Cup ties. Eagles fired a good chance across the face of goal for United. Van Persie looked like he could get himself quite agitated even early in the match but he almost stole the ball from Howard when he chased a back pass to their keeper from Brown. Mark Halsey was the ref in a match that was never gung-ho but often close to the spiteful niggle, he did well to maintain a calm unfussy unbiased control.

There was a brilliant clearing header by Clichy whilst facing his own goal and a fabulous save by Almunia from Richardson. A poor back pass by Senderos was well read by Almunia who was out fast and certainly needed to be. Lupoli got little or no service but did manage to earn himself a free kick just outside their penalty area. Pennant hit a decent free kick while Flamini moved their wall; Howard however made a good save low to his left. Richardson had another shot over and Van Persie had a shot blocked but there was none of the slick flair play we’d seen in previous rounds. Neither team shone but United looked the team most likely to. Half time and the score remained unchanged from the twentieth second.

Kevin Richardson and Sebastian Larsson

Van Persie wound up the Mancs with a tussle that saw both him and Richardson booked. He continued to wind them up and they continued to go in just that bit harder than was necessary on him. Robin also managed to find Quincy with the pass of the match but this time young Quincy wasn’t quick enough to make it tell. He like a number of others wanted to show off rather than play as a team player. Eagles did really well down the right and then got an unlucky bobble on that awful Old Trafford pitch. There was a big handball call from a Pennant cross but it would have been fairly harsh if given.

Van Persie and Pennant solos looked to be our biggest threat as the match continued to have a bit of edge. Djemba-Djemba kicked Lupoli in the chest just before Ryan Smith replaced our Italian. Not a lot of action in front of goal for either team though. Arsenal had their fair share of possession but could not break down an experienced defence. Our defenders also did well enough, especially Clichy who did well to beat Kleberson on one occasion. Kleberson had to be replaced when he twisted his ankle on that crap pitch of theirs. Cregg got to replace Larsson and Karbassiyoon replaced the not fully fit Clichy. Apart from that there was little else to report other than a few late tackles and the fact that United were continually caught offside.

Our best chance of the half came when United dozed at a free kick and Van Persie cut inside for a shot that went past the near post. So in the end it was one cock-up and one goal. If Lehmann stays fit it might be all Almunia’s season is remembered for. Wenger and Ferguson shook hands at the end, for the benefit of the TV cameras I imagine, had you blinked you’d have missed it.